Catching up… on a Tuesday!

Pssssttttt… I am still closing the Etsy shop down for Holy Week and Easter Week, but I'm giving it a couple of extra days to stay open than what I originally thought I would. There are still two dolls and three kits available. I can get any of those items to you in the mail the day after you purchase them. So, if you're still looking for an Easter Basket idea you've got just a couple of extra days to do it. I will put the shop in vacation mode on Friday morning.

I've been catching up on some work I've needed to do here at home so it feels like I've been a little AWOL. I've been using the 7QT link up as a chance to kind of catch up on what's been going on, but here it is a Tuesday and I feel inclined to just chat.

We have another book club meeting coming up on Friday. It seems like a shorter time between this one and the last one because the last one was pushed back by a week. This month's book selection is The Prairie Thief by Melissa Wiley. I've got some simple, but fun activities planned. After reading the book, I just knew that I wanted a pail of hazelnuts on the table for decoration.

I called around and found out that hazelnuts, while always available up at the gourmet grocery store, are kind of expensive! I don't collect dues from the families who participate in our club, so everything I provide comes from a basic budget that I set in my mind. What do you do when hazelnuts threaten to break that budget?

Fill your pail with rice and only a shallow layer of hazelnuts on top. These kind of little things make me giddy. Weird. I know. You can breathe easy now that you know too. :)

Oh, something else I forgot to post about before… April Fool's Day. We usually try to play some kind of food prank on the kids. This year, I was sidelined with a strained muscle in my shoulder and just couldn't do anything creative. I know they were disappointed but I told them that I reserve the right to surprise them with a food prank at anytime in the coming months, when they least expect it! Mwah hah hah!!! On your guard, kids. You've been fairly warned.

The kids had fun playing some pranks though. Shortcake switched not only the kitchen drawers around, but all the cabinets too. So you thought you were grabbing a mug and got a plate instead. BigBoy changed the computer's and the iPad's wallpaper to a picture of himself blowing a raspberry with a caption that said, "April Fools!" Sunshine knitted these tiny little Adipose dolls (Doctor Who reference) and hid one for everyone to find (purses, sock drawer, school cubby). "The fat just walks away…" What is she trying to tell us? ;)

In other news, BigBoy got some braces put on his top teeth to help correct a pretty massive overbite situation. This is Phase One of his orthodontia treatment. He will get an expander in June for about 9 months and then Phase Two braces sometime when he's a teen. 

He was a little nervous before his appointment but very brave and gave me his best "evil grin" when we came back home and The Professor told him that he was now 0.02% cyborg (FoxTrot reference). 

Little Miss Cupcake is quite a handful these days as she asserts more and more of her strong will but we love her dearly. She is all fired up and ready for SUMMER! (She thinks spring is summer.) She insisted on wearing this little shrug I crocheted for Sunshine year ago to go along with one of her pretty new dresses. I think this one is her favorite from thredUP.

So, that's what's been going on over here. I'll be back later to post about the book club. I'm really excited about this one!